Just in – Jurors today found Michael Goodwin, the former business partner of Mickey Thompson – guilty in the slayings of Thompson and his wife Trudy outside their Bradbury, California, home 18 years ago. the prosecution will not seek the death penalty, but will suggest life in prison without parole. the L.A. Times has a story, as well as the Associated Press.

The trial, which started almost two months ago, centered mostly on the threats that Thompson’s family and friends heard Goodwin make against Thompson after a business deal between them soured and Goodwin was forced to pay Thompson $700,000 Thompson won a $514,000 judgement against Goodwin, which Goodwin never paid. Prosecutors noted that Mickey Thompson was forced to watch the killers shoot Trudy before they shot him execution-style and argued that that simple act showed a revenge motive behind the murders. However, the defense argued that no physical evidence linked Goodwin to the crime and that the two men who shot the Thompsons and fled the scene on bicycles were never identified or apprehended.